Details
Track Listing
1. Rush Hour / Road Rage
2. After Dinner Drink
3. Anticipation
4. Touch, The
5. It's On
6. Together as One
7. From Dusk to Dawn
8. Peace
9. Sweet Dreams
10. Wake Me Gently
11. My Bells
Album Notes
Personnel: George Duke (piano, Fender Rhodes piano, Wurlitzer piano, synthesizer); Sheridon Stokes (bass flute); Paul Jackson, Jr. (acoustic & electric guitars); Ray Fuller (electric guitar); Christian McBride (acoustic bass); Larry Kimpel (fretted & fretless electric basses); Byron Miller (electric bass); Leon "Ndugu" Chancler (drums); Lenny Castro (percussion).
Recorded Le Gonks West, Los Angeles, California.
AFTER HOURS was nominated for a 1999 Grammy for Best Contemporary Jazz Album.
Though he came into the public eye as a key participant in the challenging works of Frank Zappa, Duke's star rose in the '70s as a solo fusion funkateer. His distinctive keyboard chops put him in the spotlight, and those skills haven't abandoned him on AFTER HOURS. The bulk of the album straddles the "Quiet Storm"/lite jazz borders, but Duke himself owns up to the lightness of this music in the liner notes, advising us that it's basically meant to be romantic background music. As such, it's a success, relying on Duke's jazzy harmonic sense and funky touch to keep things interesting. The opening "Rush Hour/Road Rage" even touches on the hardcore fusion heights of his best '70s work, and he goes the straight-ahead jazz route on "Together As One" and his late hero Bill Evans' "My Bells." Did we mention that he can still play a Fender Rhodes like nobody's business?
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